Castle of Lies [Alastair, Claudia] [Duvalier Gala]

“I do not want you to walk away from everything. Even if it was just a byproduct of what you truly wanted, or whether it happened in spite of it, there is plenty of positive change being impacted on the world by the Duvalier Group. Hundreds upon thousands of lives that have been improved by the support you have provided, and there is so much more that you could still do with what you have. Not that the scale is what concerns me. I would still be here asking the same thing if I believed that you could save even a single person’s life. Because this is about overcoming our base natures, not succumbing to them, and I know you are capable of that and more.”

It was written plainly on Alastair’s face, he was not trying to manipulate Claudia for anyone’s benefit but her own. To be so unabashedly certain that, regardless the legality of it all, she could make the morally right choice. That he could look at her, she who truly deserved nothing more than justice and punishment for all her heinous crimes, and see genuine potential was perhaps the height of noble arrogance yet therein lay the purity of it all. The redemption he offered was at the core of his being, for a truly brighter tomorrow could not be built on the crumbling bricks formed by the sins of yesterday.

“Of course this is still asking a lot of you, so do not doubt that I would match those stakes as best I can. Everything I am is devoted to this cause, anything less would render it all pointless, so if there is anything within my power to give you then know that I will.”

There it was, a path to a new life unfolding before her very eyes. He offered her a blank canvas on which to write a new fate, the price to pay for it was her own dream. Nothing could ever truly equate to that, for it was everything that Claudia Duvalier had ever been, but Alastair truly believed she could be more.

His gaze once again listed back in the direction of the sky above, to that place far away beyond all sight where his ambition might be realised, and the slightest of smiles crept across his lips. He had never spoken so freely before in his life, not to Reida or Cyrus or even himself, and yet in this moment - before she responded - he dared to envisage a world where they stood together.

It was the overwhelming, almost smothering intensity of Alastair's genuine kindness that made Claudia feel something she had not felt in a long while, not since she was young. It was not anger, nor disgust, nor even malice or spite. No, what coursed through every fiber of Claudia's being at present was nothing more or less than pure indignance. Before, she had thought to herself only that life might have been different, without much concern for what that meant.

But he spoke with such intensity, such genuine kindness, that Claudia knew she would not be here if she had met him sooner. If someone such as him had entered her life far earlier. Wasn't that so terribly representative of all that she hated about the world? Nothing but a scattershot, meaningless array of events, every life and every action just as valuable, or valueless, as any other.

And, yet, that very worldview surely would not have come about had he come into her life earlier than he had. His convictions, unwavering even in the face of her most boldfaced truth, were secondary to the fact which was almost insulting to Claudia; that he still dared to care for her well-being and chance to better herself, knowing what she was.

A less composed would perhaps have screamed, or simply conceded defeat to turn over a new leaf. But Claudia was only more assured than ever of her decisions. After all, no world worth maintaining could have created such a cruel fate as this. But her eyes looked to Alastair with genuine happiness behind them, an emotion seen only by him in this world, and she smiled faintly as she gave him her reply.

"You make weighty promises, Alastair. But I suppose I have taken your words to heart."

She, too, had seen a world where they stood together. Such an idyllic vision was, to a woman so filled with hate as Claudia, all the more proof that there was simply nothing good in this world as it was.

“Promises you know I would uphold. Yet you are still reluctant to accept the olive branch that I offer.”

His gaze returned to her, withering in its intensity but without losing any of that inner warmth. With every fibre of his very being, he wanted her to accept this final gamble. To falter at the final hurdle before she committed herself truly to damnation and see all of this for what it was, a folly. But even this optimism did not make him blind, the possibility of failure had already been high after all. This was not a decision that she had come to suddenly; it was something she had been working towards long before he had ever darkened her door, and now perhaps there was an obligation to see it through to the end.

“It is never too late to change, time yet remains to balance us all. But if it is not now then I know there will be one more chance before the end of it all. A time for revelation and repentance for both of us.”

He spoke with a certainty he could not possibly possess, and yet his tone did not beget doubt. The self assured nature of him was almost maddening, a creature born of this singleminded belief in the good of the world despite all the horrors and monsters that he had overcome to get here. But was that ever going to be enough for Claudia? He would have devoted himself to her entirely if she asked it of him, burned any bridge if it would have gotten them to where he wanted them to be, and yet it all felt so distant now. She felt so distant now. Like one of those stars floating high in the sky above him.

"Would you not be? If someone asked you to abandon everything that you have ever wanted, everything you have ever worked toward? Alastair, I know you understand my position as I understand yours."

She did know that. Did she want Alastair to join her? No, she didn't. After all, Claudia found him so fascinating because she understood exactly how assured he was of his own righteousness. If he was so easily bent into something less firm, he would have been no different from any other common refuse, someone for her to run roughshod over and use as a tool.

But he would not be used as a tool. And that meant all she could do was ensure he understood her position, her desires.

"I admire that hopeful view of yours. It would be ideal if I could simply tell you I will change, but I know you are intelligent enough to understand why I cannot simply make such a brazen statement as that. Even so, I would like to."

"So this is your everything, then? It truly matters not for the means that could still be spared, but only the result."

Similar and yet different, that was all that this conversation had reminded him of. How close he walked to this path of damnation on his way to change the world, and that only the thinnest of lines stood between them. There was so much that he would do and give to realise his dream, no personal sacrifice too great, but that was his price to pay alone rather than casting others into the fire as kindling. That was likely what Arlette and the others were to her, what they had always been.

"Well, I admire your conviction too, I feel that it would be discourteous of me to deny you that, but perhaps you give me too much credit. What is truly stopping you from making such a statement to me? The desire to change burns within you, it has to have for you to have come this far, but why will you refuse to try to change yourself?"

He was quite insatiable in that desire to understand her, even when she threatened him with a gaze into the abyss that lay beyond. Not the woman that she pretended to be, nor the one that lay beneath the surface, but the true face of her. Perhaps only then would he know without a doubt what action could be taken next.

"My everything... What a peculiar way to put it. I suppose it is."

There was a trailing off in Claudia's tone of voice that was uncharacteristic of her, a fleeting sense that perhaps there was more to say, or more that she wished not to address. The reality was that the presence of the man before her was one she found anomalous in her life, a force of will that she was incapable of simply ignoring as one more ignorant creature to be cut out of the world.

"To change is not so simple as to desire it. We are made of all our experiences in this world, made of the lives we have lived and even the circumstances of our birth. We may certainly control how we act in reaction to all of that, Alastair, but if every man could simply choose to be something different, something better, how would there still be strife in the world?"

Claudia had never in her life considered changing. Not until these last moments, but that was only because she quite firmly that she would never change. She simply had this one opportunity, however brief, to indulge in genuine engagement with another person. After all, there was no other person across all the realms who could provide something like this.

"Do you believe that you, and the Vandenreich, could achieve what it is I wish? Could you in your good nature commit all this cruelty, and so effortlessly? I think not. Only Eliane has returned to me, after all, and it is so easy to kill an empty shell."

She was unconcerned about laying the truth in front of him at this stage. Why shouldn't she make it clear that she knew what had happened? That the real Eliane was still alive, that her little girls were conspiring? It didn't bother her for him to know.

Alastair paused in his verbal assault as she showed the slightest hints of something close to honesty. The idea that she was so entirely consumed by this madness and only now glimpsed beyond it, that was what he had to hope that she saw in a moment of self-actualisation. Whether it was true or not, he doubted she would say. Especially not now.

"There are circumstances that define us that are out of our control, but I must believe that the first step towards change is to desire it. If it is forced upon you then you will always find a way to resist and defy it, that is why the cycle only continues to turn endlessly. The change we seek is one borne of selflessness, our purpose defined not by bettering ourselves but for something far greater. If every man thought like that then perhaps there would be no strife, but it would all become quite paradoxical."

He did not want to get bogged down in the what-ifs and the maybes, that would not serve his purpose any good. The truth was that few saw the world the same way as they did, and then chose to try and change it. Many wished to make a difference, to leave their mark or earn their fortune, and some would succeed, but that would ultimately change nothing. They were, in their quests to be relevant, entirely inconsequential.

"The will to change alone does not make it happen, but I know that it has driven me to where I am today and handed me the tools with which to wield to make it even a fraction of a possibility. There is cruelty to it, but there is also the chance to save so many more from such hardship and to assume it would be effortless would also be quite optimistic. If I must stake my everything to make it a reality then I will match you every step of the way, that much I know. My Vandenreich will never cease in their mission to make the world better."

It felt so arrogant of him to speak of the Vandenreich as his own, even now as that shadow loomed overhead like a coming storm. He had not shared that with another soul, not even Reida yet knew what awaited him and yet he would lay it bare upon the table for Claudia. Yet he did not show a hint of faltering or doubt, this was his truth and he would never deny her that.

"I have opened my arms and invited you to stab me in the back, knowing that you have both the instinct and the means to do so, because I want to believe that something will hold you back. That nagging thought that maybe, just maybe, I could deliver upon that dream we share but in a different way."

"Your boundless kindness is so unlike all else in my life, you know. I think that you would have made a rather different woman out of me, if we'd only met far sooner. I believe in you, well and truly. I believe that what you want, you will have. It is a trait we share, but there is one distinction between you and I."

Bringing her hand upward, Claudia moved to touch Alastair's cheek, a gesture with no malice in it, yet no kindness, either. It was simply a physical reassurance of the closeness between the two of them, an affirmation of what they shared that could likely never be understood by someone else. Not to the fullest depths, at any rate.

"Selflessness is not what brings forward my desire, Alastair. I wish to change the world because that is what I want. Because I so deeply hate every other person I have ever met, and because I know that the world is what shapes them into such a deplorable state."

But she had not cut down the man before her, even when she had all the opportunity in the world. Claudia could hardly say he was wholly incorrect in his assertion, but her belief in him was perhaps not what he believed it to be. She did not think he could bring her what she wished. What she believed, however, was that he was the only person who could make it worthwhile for her even if she failed.

"I will put my current projects on hold. The Duvalier Group will, for now, focus only on those efforts you would approve of. I think that I would only fail if I were to try and work against you any more, hm? And I am not a woman who is willing to waste my life."

"If we had met earlier, perhaps I too would not have been the person I am today. But thoughts of halcyon days will have to remain as such, always. We are now, as you say, distinct."

He did not flinch as Claudia took hold of him, her hand resting against his cheek and commanding their eyes to interlock. His gaze of orange drawn directly into those icy hues of hers and refusing still to falter. An affirmation to him that, though there were but several inches between them, there was also an immeasurable distance that kept them apart. He was warm to the touch, pleasantly so despite the cold chill that gathered around them, and yet his pale skin sported no blemishes of a tan or anything of the like. Were it another time, he might have passed a comment on that, but instead he just shared in this genuine moment with her and contemplated on her words.

And then, at the end of it all, she offered him something close to what he wanted. It was surprising enough that he leant ever so slightly into her hand, pushing against her touch as his head tilted just a little to one side. He wanted quite terribly to believe her, so he would. Despite any semblance of reason begging him to doubt. Because that was the man he had become in these past few years, a man built of faith in himself.

"Then you would be doing me a far greater kindness than I could ever repay, and saving countless lives. I will strive to show you that there is more to people than what your hatred could ever attempt to wash away. That even this world, so flawed and broken, has done some good and could be yet moulded to do more when placed in the right hands. That your life is not one to be wasted, just as much as anyone else. Those are my solemn vows to you, Claudia Duvalier."

Though none else would likely care to remember it for anything more than the Gala, perhaps this was the day that the world took its first real step towards a brighter tomorrow. When two whose methodologies were so intrinsically opposed could put that aside and stand together, maybe there was hope for everyone else. Alastair certainly embodied that hope, standing tall and radiant against the night, as he too sought to seize his ambition firmly and took hold of his glass of wine with newfound fervour.

"I doubt I am the first, but let us toast to you and us. The peculiars."

Offering it towards her for an impromptu toast, one that perhaps might seal this little agreement, a true smile soon crept onto lips that so rarely wore one. He did, after all, believe he had won a great victory tonight.